By Our Reporter
LIRA
A former member of the Lira District Land Board has been arraigned before the Grade One Magistrates Court in Lira District on charges of fraudulent procurement of a certificate of title and forgery.
Ameny Thomas Max who pleaded not guilty to the charges on Friday, 8th August was later remanded to prison until 13th August, 2026.
According to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit that investigated the case, Ameny allegedly committed the offenses between 2019 and 2020 in Lira District
“Ameny Thomas Max and others still at large, with intent to defraud, and using his position as a member of the District Land Board and former District speaker, forged the land application form for conversion from customary tenure to freehold tenure and willfully made false statements in the application form claiming that Edwe Dorcus Rita his wife, was the customary owner of part of Government land at Ireda Estate.
He went ahead and registered the said Edwe Dorcus Rita as the proprietor of a freehold certificate of title for Plot 2 Absolom Oteng Road at Ireda Estate, Lira.
On Thursday, 30th July, 2026, the Anti-Corruption Court sentenced three Lira district officials serve four years in prison, while a private individual was sentenced to one year in prison over land related fraud.
The sentenced officials are; Opio Francis – District Staff Surveyor, Otike Pabius – District Natural Resources Officer, Ogwanga Joel – Cartographer at the Ministry of Lands, Lira Zonal Office.
Atoo Rebecca – Sister to Opio Francis, in whose name the fraudulently acquired land was registered was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment because she was not a public officer but facilitated the fraud.
According to the IGG, between February and August 2019, Lira District Local Government initiated the process of obtaining a certificate of title for its land at Ireda Estate.
During the survey process, Opio Francis and Otike Pabius deliberately excluded a portion of the land. With the assistance of Ogwanga Joel, they fraudulently procured a Freehold Certificate of Title for Plot 3–5 Ben Emor Road, Ireda Estate, covering the excluded land, and registered it in the name of Atoo Rebecca.
After the title was obtained, Atoo Rebecca sold the land to Olam Pius, with all the convicted persons participating in and witnessing the transaction.
